Friday, November 21, 2008

Visiting a University #1

This is part one in the (I guess..) three part series about me, visiting a university in Holland. Making my decision which one I should join next year..
I think it is wise to tell you that I live in a small city, with nothing like a university, so every trip is a trip to 'the big city'.

Today I've visited Leiden University, Holland's oldest university.
Leiden is one of the biggest student cities. 1 on 7 person who lives there is a student. I love it.
It is a really Dutch city, with the old houses near the canal. So Dutch, so lovely.

I went to the informative meeting of medicins.
The speakers spoke in a large lecture room. A room which can fill 350 men. A sparkling new room, with microphones on the desk so you can ask the teacher question, without screaming.
The presentations of different persons was talked to each other by a student. A typical student from Leiden. A prep. In Holland we call it a 'bal'.
I heard some interesting presentation, I think Leiden is a good city to study medicins.

After the meeting, we went to the city, not less important!
We ate a pancake, in a cosy restaurant. And in front of us, there were to elder woman. I guess they were above 70. And what do old people do when they have to read the menu? Getting their glasses. But what did this woman do? Get a magnifying glass! I was perplex. So funny, seeing this woman looking at the menu through such a big magnifier!

I wanna put it in a list. Why should I chose Leiden, and why I shouldn't.

Should:
  • Fantastic, Dutch city
  • Oldest university, so many old traditions
  • Relatively not that expensive rooms
  • Everything is close, from your room to the university is 5 minutes on a bike
Shouldn't:
  • There are many preps, which I don't want to become
  • The decentral selection (on which you can avoid the draw) requirements are just crazy. I won't stand a chance
So, only two shouldn'ts. But the second one is a very heavy one. If I want to be sure to enter medicine next year, I can compete in the decentral selection. I think I will do that, but not in the one from Leiden, but from Groningen. Which I will be visiting soon, I hope..

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3 comments:

Alice said...

Hey Stefan, I caught a link to your blog from Study Hacks, and I'm a college student from Wisconsin, US (minoring in Intl Business, so I love reading accounts from overseas). Two comments and one question: a three-part series, not serie, and I think you want to study medicine, not medicins (you want to be a doctor? Very cool.) Also, what do you mean by many preps?

Stefan said...

Hi Amy!
Thanks for commenting, sorry for my late reaction.
I thought prep was the right word, but I learned it from a video game.
When I look in the dictionary it says 'snooty, toffee-nosed person'. I don't know if you understand it now.
Thanks for correcting me on my English ;)

Alice said...

Stefan - I get it now. Another colloquialism that is more commonly used in the US is "snob," meaning the same thing.